The Real Reason You Won't Walk Away

I see it in almost every deal review I run: a seller white-knuckling a deal everyone else in the room can tell is a loser. There's one reason they hang on, and it has nothing to do with the deal itself.

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If you prefer to read - here is the transcript:

Last week I was running a deal review session with a client, and we were analyzing one seller's opportunity.

It was a terrible opportunity. The prospect was in disarray. They were ghosting the seller. Their business was failing.

Worse, they were partnering with one of the seller's other customers and dragging that business into disarray too. The prospect had a long history with a competitor, and they had churned through three or four different sales reps who had all thrown up their hands and said, “I don't want to deal with them anymore.”

Three managers were in the room. Seventy-five sellers were in the room. And all three managers said the same thing: you need to walk away from this business.

But she persisted. She crossed her arms and said, “I can't. I don't have anyone else to sell to. There aren't many customers this size in my territory. I need to keep persisting.”

How many times has this happened to you? The number one reason sellers hang on to deals they know they shouldn't is because they don't have enough in the pipeline.

Now, she was right about one thing. She works in a market that isn't expanding and doesn't have an infinite number of prospects.

But that doesn't mean she should keep this deal. The opportunity is bad. It's going to cost her brand reputation. She's going to be selling to a losing prospect.

And for every hour she spends there, she's not spending it with a current customer that could grow, or a prospect running a great business that has the willingness to buy.

The lost opportunity cost is high when you use your energy, your time, and your smarts to chase business that's bad and probably will never close. Walk away, and put that energy where it can actually pay off.